University of Western Ontario
The University of Western Ontario (UWO; branded as Western University) is a public research university in London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on 455 hectares (1,120 acres) of land, surrounded by residential neighbourhoods and the Thames River bisecting the campus's eastern portion. The university operates twelve academic faculties and schools.
"UWO" redirects here. For other uses, see UWO (disambiguation).
The university was founded on 7 March 1878 by Bishop Isaac Hellmuth of the Anglican Diocese of Huron as the Western University of London, Ontario.[2] It incorporated Huron College, which had been founded in 1863. The first four faculties were Arts, Divinity, Law and Medicine. The university became non-denominational in 1908. Beginning in 1919, the university had affiliated with several denominational colleges. The university grew substantially in the post-World War II era, and a number of faculties and schools were added.
Western is a co-educational university, with more than 24,000 students, and over 306,000 living alumni worldwide. The university is a member of the U15, a group of research-intensive universities in Canada. Western's varsity teams, known as the Western Mustangs, compete in the Ontario University Athletics conference of U Sports.
University rankings
301–400
114
43
201–250
300
12–17
6
9–10
10
11
13
As of November 2007, the University of Western Ontario has over 220,000 alumni residing in over 100 countries.[156] Throughout Western's history, faculty, alumni, and former students have played prominent roles in many different fields and have won the Nobel Prize, Pulitzer Prize and other awards such as the Rhodes Scholarship.[157][158] Former faculty member Frederick Banting received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discovery of insulin.[159] Alice Munro, who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013, studied in the university's English department for two years under a scholarship and returned to Western in 1974–1975, when she held the post of writer-in-residence. She was later awarded an honorary degree.[160] Two graduates from Western have also travelled in space, namely Bjarni Tryggvason and Roberta Bondar.[161][162]
Many former students have gained local and national prominence for serving in government, such as James Bartleman, who served as Lieutenant Governor of Ontario from 2002 to 2007, and Sheila Copps who served as Deputy Prime Minister of Canada.[163] Western's alumni also include a number of provincial premiers, including former premiers of Ontario John Robarts and David Peterson,[164] and the former premier of Alberta, Don Getty.[165] A number of graduates have also served prominent positions on the international level. Examples include Glenn Stevens,[166] the Governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia and Margaret Chan, the Director-General of the World Health Organization.[167]
A significant number of prominent leaders in business and economics have also studied at Western. Examples include: Stephen Poloz, Governor, Bank of Canada,[168] Thomas H. Bailey, founder and former chairman of Janus Capital Group,[169] Geoff Beattie, president of The Woodbridge Company and chairman of CTVglobemedia,[170] George Cope, president and CEO of Bell Canada Enterprise,[171] Joseph Muncaster, president of Canadian Tire,[172] Edward Rogers III, deputy chairman of Rogers Communications, and former president of Rogers Cable,[173] Arkadi Kuhlmann, chairman of ING Direct,[174] Rob McEwen, founder, chairman and former CEO of Goldcorp Inc.,[175] John Thompson, former chairman of Toronto-Dominion Bank and chancellor of Western,[176] Prem Watsa, chairman, CEO of Fairfax Financial,[177] Lee Seng Wee, former chairman of Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation,[178] Galen Weston, chairman and president of George Weston Limited,[179] Howard Lindzon, author and founder of StockTwits,[180] businesswoman Margaret Heng, CEO of Shatec, a Singapore-based hospitality training institution,[181] and Kevin O'Leary, television personality, venture capitalist, and former president of The Learning Company.[182]